System and method for determining range in 3D imaging systems

ABSTRACT

A system and method of imaging an object. An array of detectors is mounted in an image plane. Each detector in the array of detectors is connected to a timing circuit having an interpolator, wherein the interpolator includes a first circuit which charges a first capacitor at a different rate than it discharges. An optical pulse is transmitted toward an object so that a portion of the optical pulse is reflected from the object as a reflected pulse and a first value representative of when the optical pulse was transmitted toward the object is recorded. The reflected pulse is detected at one or more detectors and a pulse characteristic of the pulse and a second value representative of when the reflected pulse arrived at the detector are recorded. Range to the object is then calculated as a function of the first and second values and the reflected pulse characteristic.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/886,073now U.S. Pat. No. 7,236,235, filed on Jul. 6, 2004 entitled “System andMethod for Determining Range In 3D Imaging Systems,” which is related toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/886,079, filed on Jul. 6, 2004entitled “System and Method for 3D Imaging,” the entire contents of bothapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to imaging of objects using arrays of lightdetectors and, more particularly, to a system and method for determiningrange in three-dimensional imaging systems.

2. Background Information

Laser techniques, such as LADAR (Laser Detection and Ranging) or “LIDAR”(Light Detection and Ranging), are currently being used to image objectsin three-dimensional image systems. Light, often from a laser source, isdirected toward an object of interest. Reflected light from the objectis then gathered and focused on one or more photodetectors.

LADAR systems are capable of determining the distance to an object, forexample, by timing the travel time of light pulses sent round trip froma source to the object and back to a detector. However, adapting suchsystems to image remote objects challenges the sensitivity and speed ofavailable devices.

Stettner et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,529 (1995), describes an array ofdetectors placed at the image plane to detect a two-dimensional imageframe, which can be further processed to enhance the image. If adequatelight is gathered and the reflective emissions of the object aredistinguishable from noise, an object can be identified by such asystem.

In some laser imaging systems either the scanner or the receiver isscanned across the object, and multiple laser pulses are used to probethe contours of the object. An example of such an approach is shown inU.S. Pat. No. 6,734,849, issued to Dimsdale et al. on May 11, 2004.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,892,575 (1999), Marino, on the other hand, disclosesa system for imaging a scene using an array of monolithic lightdetectors operating in non-linear Geiger mode. In one “scanner-less”embodiment disclosed by the patent, a processor develops an image of thetarget scene based on the round trip travel times of object-reflectedphotons received by a photodetector array at multiple positions on thearray.

The approaches to date have been complex and, therefore, expensive toproduce and maintain. What is needed is a system and method for imagingwhich addresses the above issues and other issues that will becomeevident when reading the description below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an imaging system according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate other embodiments of an imaging system;

FIG. 5 illustrates a detector and a timing circuit according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an interpolator which can be used in the timingcircuit of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates Nutt interpolation within the timing circuit of FIG.5;

FIG. 8 illustrates the cascade of two interpolator circuits within thetiming circuit of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 illustrates time interpolation based on analog voltage readings;and

FIGS. 10-12 illustrates resonator/attenuators according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof,and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments inwhich the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

A representative system 100 for creating a high resolutionthree-dimensional image of a scene of interest 101 is shown in FIG. 1. Apulsed light source 102, typically a laser, is directed toward targetscene 101. Some of the light is reflected back from the scene. An arrayof detectors 104 receives the light from portions of the scene. Thedistance from the system to the portion of the scene 101 in the field ofview of a single detector is determined by the time required for thelight to illuminate that portion and then return to the detectors 104.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, imaging system 100 includes a laser102, optics 103, a detector array 104, a timer circuit 106, a processor108, storage 110 and a display 112. In one embodiment (such as is shownin FIG. 1), system 100 also includes a resonator/attenuator 114 used tocalibrate system 100 in a manner to be described below. System 100measures the round trip time for reflected laser pulse from one or moretargets for each of a two-dimensional array of pixels, providing animage with millimeter range accuracy and resolution.

In one embodiment, such as is shown in FIG. 2, system 100 includes apulse generator 130 connected to a laser 132. The pulse generator issuesan electrical pulse which is turned into an optical pulse by laser 132.If the time from generation of the electrical pulse to the optical pulseis repeatable, transmit time can be determined from generation of theelectrical pulse by pulse generator 130. If not, transmit time can bedetermined based on generation of the optical pulse by laser 132.

System 100 measures the round trip time for reflected laser pulse fromone or more targets for each of a one or two-dimensional array ofpixels, providing an image with millimeter range accuracy andresolution. In the embodiments shown in FIG. 2, optics 134 and detector136 receive light reflected from object 101. Each detector 136 isconnected to a timing circuit 138. In one embodiment, each timingcircuit 138 includes a plurality of interpolators.

An optical pulse is transmitted toward object 101 so that a portion ofthe optical pulse is reflected from the object as a reflected pulse. Thereflected pulse passes through optics 134 and falls on detector 136. Thetime for the optical pulse to bounce off object 101 and arrive at one ormore of the detectors 136 is used to determine range to object 101. Inone embodiment, detecting arrival of the reflected pulse includesintegrating the reflected pulse over a predetermined interval of time todetermine a reflected pulse characteristic and recording a valuerepresentative of when the reflected pulse arrived at detector 136.Range is then calculated as a function of the transmit time, the receivetime and the reflected pulse characteristic.

As noted above, there often-times is an undeterminable lag betweenstimulation of laser 132 with an electrical pulse and issuance of anoptical pulse by laser 132. In such instances, transmit time must becalculated from issuance of the optical pulse. In one embodiment, system100 includes a detector 140 and a timing circuit 142 which can be usedto determine transmit time for the optical pulse. One such embodiment isshown in FIG. 3.

In another embodiment, such as is shown FIG. 4, a portion of the opticalpulse is directed to detectors 136. That portion uses detectors 136 andtiming circuits 138 to determine a transmit time and amplitude for theoptical pulse.

In one embodiment, detector array 104 and timer array 106 areimplemented as a hybrid of two chips, an array of detectors connected toan array of processing electronics unit cells. Each detector on one chipis connected to its own processing-electronics unit cell on the otherchip. This defines one voxel in the image. Each processing-electronicsunit cell on the array contains an identical and unique integratedcircuit which can store one or more reflected-pulse transit times andeither the associated reflected-pulse energy or peak amplitude.Transit-time and pulse amplitude information for all pixels is read outpreferably between laser pulses.

In an alternative embodiment, the array of detectors and theirassociated processing-electronics unit cells are distributed throughoutan integrated circuit. While this has the disadvantage of providing asmaller proportion of surface area to collect photons, it can beproduced much more economically since the two chips do not need to bemated.

A core principle of any pulsed lidar system is to measure the timebetween when a pulse is emitted and when a reflected pulse is received.Light travels at the speed of light, c_(m), for the medium in which ittravels. Thus for a target which is d meters away, the round trip timeis t=2d/c_(m). In air this is roughly 6.7 psec/mm, so the fundamentalproblem in a millimeter resolution pulsed lidar is to measure time to anaccuracy of a few picoseconds. Some techniques have been successful inmaking millimeter measurements in a single pixel system, but for avariety of reasons there have been difficulties in applying them to asensor array. While numerous efforts have been made to measure timeintervals in a focal plane array to millimeter accuracy, so far all havefallen short of this goal.

A timing circuit 138 can be used in system 100 of FIGS. 1-4 is shown inFIG. 5. The returning light is detected by detector 150 and converted toan electrical signal. The signal is amplified by transimpedanceamplifier (TIA) 152, and then converted into a signal appropriate totrigger a flip-flop by discriminator 154. The output of flip-flop 156goes high when a first pulse is detected, and the output of flip-flop158 goes high only when a second pulse is detected. The time of arrivalof the two pulses is converted to a digital signal by time converters160 and 162 and read out through multiplexer 168.

In one embodiment, timing circuit 138 includes gated integrators 164 and166. The amplitude of the two pulses is determined by integrating thesignal from slightly before the pulse starts until shortly after thepulse ends. In an alternative implementation that is easier toimplement, a peak detector can be employed rather than a gatedintegrator. While simpler to implement, this is likely to provide poorerperformance as the peak of a pulse is not a good monotonic indicator ofpulse energy, particularly when the detector is operating in anon-linear region.

The measurement of pulse intensity is critical in making accurate rangemeasurements when the associated timing measurements are made betweentimes at which the pulses exceed a threshold and the required precisionis significantly smaller than the pulse rise time. When the pulsereturning from a target is larger, the threshold is exceeded sooner, andthis leads to an apparently shorter distance (ranging error). Anaccurate measure of pulse intensity, such as provided by a gatedintegrator, provides an effective means of compensating for thisapparent error in range measurement. In an alternative embodiment, apeak detector can be used to estimate pulse intensity; however thisprovides much less accurate range compensation—particularly when thedetector is operating in saturation.

In a single pixel lidar implementation, the gated integrator can betriggered in advance of the arrival of the received pulse by theintroduction of a delay line of a few nanoseconds. However, in an arrayimplementation, the introduction of such a delay line at each pixelwould be prohibitive.

In one embodiment, such as is shown in FIG. 5, a pair of gatedintegrator blocks 164 and 166 are used for each of the start and stoppulses. In one such embodiment, each gated integrator block includes apair of gated integrators which are ping-ponged to find the intensity ofeach of these pulses. In one such embodiment, each gated integrator canbe integrated over a time that is at least as long as the longest pulsethat will be observed. When the return pulse is detected, thealternation between integrators is stopped, and the last integratedpulse is utilized to compensate the range measurement. In oneembodiment, reflected pulses are 1-20 ns in length when they reachdetector 136. In such an embodiment, one could design gated integrators164 and 166 to integrate over 20 ns, with an overlap of 10 ns.

A method of determining the transit time for an optical pulse will bedescribed next. The simplest approach to measuring time interval betweentwo pulses is to enable a counter when the first pulse arrives, stop thecounter when the second pulse arrives, and record the number of counts.The number of counts times the clock period will be the time. The basicproblem with this is that in order to have a resolution of 1 mm, theclock frequency would have to be approximately 200 GHz. This is neithereconomic nor practical for a large array of sensors.

Timing circuit 138 stretches the time interval two or more times, sothat a more modest clock frequency can be utilized to achieve therequired accuracy. In one embodiment, each time converter 160 and 162includes at least one interpolator. An interpolator measures the timebetween an asynchronous event and a subsequent master clock pulse. Inone embodiment, each interpolator includes an interpolator circuit 180which charges a capacitor at a different rate than it discharges. Anexample interpolator circuit 180 is shown in FIG. 6. An example timingdiagram is shown in FIG. 7

The fundamental concept of this interpolator is to create a linearcharging ramp on a capacitor when the first pulse arrives, begindischarging this capacitor at a different rate after a fixed number ofmaster clock pulses, and enable a counter on the master clock pulsesuntil the capacitor arrives at its original state. Implementations ofthis process have been previously called Nutt interpolators.

In operation, timing circuit 138 counts the number of clock pulses ofthe master clock that occur between the arrival of the first pulse andthe arrival of the second pulse. In addition, an interpolator is appliedto each pulse to measure the time between the two pulses to an accuracymany times that of the master clock. If the time from the first pulse toa subsequent master clock pulse is T_(A), the time from the second pulseto a subsequent master clock pulse is T_(B), and the time between thesetwo selected clock pulses is T_(C), then the total time between the twopulses will be T=T_(A)+T_(C)−T_(B). T_(C) will be accurately measured ininteger numbers of master clock pulses. The time intervals T_(A) andT_(B) can be estimated by a pair of interpolators that effectivelystretch the time by a potentially large factor, enabling accuratemeasurement by counting with the same master clock.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, before a triggering event (such as a pulse)arrives, integrating capacitor 182 is held at a high level by uppercurrent source 184. When enabled, flip-flop 186 waits for a pulse andthe coarse counter is enabled. When a pulse arrives, flip-flop 186 isclocked, and that in turn causes integrating capacitor 180 to bedischarged by a lower current source 185 at a high rate, and the finecounter is enabled. When the transition of flip-flop 188 propagatesthrough the synchronizing flip-flops 188 and 190, integrating capacitor182 is then charged again by upper current source 184. When the outputof comparator 192 shows that the integrating capacitor has returned toits original level, the fine counter is disabled.

In one interpolator embodiment, two or more separate interpolatorcircuits 180 are cascaded, with the discharge of one triggered when theprevious capacitor has returned to a threshold value. An example timingdiagram for an interpolator having two interpolator circuits 180 isshown in FIG. 8.

In one such embodiment, an interpolator includes five or six cascadedinterpolator circuits 180; the discharge of one interpolator circuit 180is triggered when the previous capacitor has returned to a thresholdvalue. In one five interpolator circuit embodiment, the clock operatesat 100 Mhz and the rate of charging for each capacitor is 8-16(corresponding to 3 or 4 bits) times the rate of discharging. If therate of charging is 8 times that of discharging, such an embodimentleads to a total interpolation of 8^5 or 32,768 times the rate ofdischarging. Interpolation capacitors may, for instance, be on the orderof 8-20 fF, with the charging/discharging currents about 200-800 nA.

The value of the intensity measurement, whether it corresponds to a peakdetection or a gated integrator, can be either digitized at the pixeland multiplexed as a digital value or it can be multiplexed as an analogvoltage to an off-chip analog-to-digital converter. Nearly identicalcircuitry will suffice to digitize the intensity as was used to measurethe interpolated voltage—a counter will determine how long it takes toreduce the stored voltage to an original value.

An alternative approach is to provide a single slope measurement of thetiming interpolation, saving the voltage on the interpolator until afterall the pixel measurements are performed. At that point the interpolatedvalue can be multiplexed off the chip with an analog multiplexer, ratherthan a digital multiplexer as provided in the dual slope implementation.These values would then be converted by an off-chip analog-to-digitalconverter. An example timing diagram for such an approach is shown inFIG. 9.

When a pulse is detected, a capacitor will be charged at a fixed rateuntil a subsequent transition of the master clock. The value of thevoltage on the capacitor will be proportional to the time between thepulse and this clock edge. The multiplexer, in this case, will transmitan analog voltage off chip.

In the case of a single slope timing interpolator, it is preferable touse an analog multiplexer to transfer both the interpolator andintensity measurements off-chip.

As noted above, system 100 also may include a resonator/attenuator 114used to calibrate system 100. One impediment to making highly accuratemeasurements with an individual pixel is the variation of circuitproperties that can occur during operation, including variations oflaser pulse properties, environmental conditions and aging.Additionally, within an array individual pixels may behave differently,and the variation of their behavior may not track with environmentalconditions or time. Also, when the detectors operate in saturation, theintensity measurement may not be linear. Consequently it is important toincorporate components which can allow the system to compensate forthese behaviors across the array.

In one embodiment, a fiber resonator/attenuator is added to characterizethe properties of individual pixels and their variation as a function ofpulse properties, environmental conditions, and aging; and the variationof behavior within the array. The principle function of this assembly isto provide a known range of signals to the receiver, essentiallysimulating the circumstances the receiver would experience whenpresented with a test object but within the confines of the instrument.When in calibration mode, the instrument will be presented with asequence of pulses from the resonator/attenuator 114, and measuredresults from this will be subsequently used to adjust the measurementstaken from real objects.

The mechanical construction of resonator/attenuator 114 can be as shownin FIG. 10. Resonator/attenuator 114 includes a variable attenuator 200,a fiber coupler 202, a fiber resonator 204 and a fiber collimator 206. Asmall sample of pulse from laser 102 is passed through a variableattenuator 200 on its way to the fiber coupler 202. The attenuator 200permits simulating a wide range of return signal amplitudes, anddetermining their effect on the apparent round trip time delay. It canalso be set to prevent the laser pulses from reaching detector array 104through this path; in that case the only energy reaching the detectorarray is from a remote object being measured.

In one embodiment, fiber resonator 204 is assembled using an opticalfiber 208 and a 2×2 coupler 210, as shown in FIG. 11. Optical fiber 208can be a multimode fiber if the bandwidth of the laser pulse is smallenough, but it will need to be a single mode fiber if the bandwidth ofthe fiber is large enough to cause significant dispersion over thedesired fiber length compared to the required timing precision.

Coupler 210 distributes the incoming pulse between the two output ports,with any convenient distribution. As an example, a pulse delivered tothe input of a 50-50 coupler would send half the power to each outputport, so half the power would be delivered to the detector array, andthe other half would be delivered to the input of the coupler, with adelay proportional to the length of the connecting fiber. This wouldcontinuously repeat, delivering a sequence of pulses to fiber collimator206. Fiber collimator 204 couples the emerging laser pulse onto detectorarray 104.

It is preferable for the emerging pulse to arrive at every pixel in thedetector array simultaneously, but it is acceptable if the timevariation across the array is geometrically deterministic andrepeatable.

In an alternative embodiment, a bundle 212 with multiple fibers is usedto simulate multiple time delays. These can be selected with a set ofranges approximately the same as experienced by the detector when thesystem is operated to acquire data. Such an approach is shown in FIG.12.

Finally, in a third embodiment, the fiber resonator is either a singlemode or multimode fiber with the ends coated so that they are partiallyreflective. This approach has two significant disadvantages over theother approaches: 1) the first pulse arrives faster than subsequentpulses that have to traverse the fiber twice; and 2) the reflectivecoating on the input facet will attenuate all the pulses, and will bereflected back towards laser 102.

The number and spacing of the pulses coming from resonator/attenuator114 will depend on the particular architecture for the resonator.However, the spacing will be highly stable at a particular temperatureof the fiber. The effective fiber length, corresponding to the spacingbetween these pulses, can be characterized as a function of temperature.Alternatively, a fiber whose propagation is nearly independent oftemperature can be utilized, though this is can be more difficult andexpensive to produce.

In use, the calibrator compensates for the apparent ranges of objectsmeasured in the field. At the time of system construction, timingcircuit 106 or 138 will be used to measure the apparent ranges of thepulses coming from resonator/attenuator 114. These values are recorded.One can assume that the fibers in the resonator/attenuator 114 will notchange length or refractive index over time. Then, when a new object ismeasured, the measured ranges of the object will be altered depending onthe apparent ranges from the calibration. For instance, if thecalibrator measurements suggest that time intervals are all beingmeasured 0.5% longer, then the same amount will be added to themeasurements for the real object.

The calibrator can also be used to determine variations in measuredrange due to variations in return intensity. Since the spacing of thepulses from the calibrator is independent of intensity, the attenuationcan be varied and both pulse intensity measurements and time intervalmeasurements can be recorded. This can be used to produce a table ofmeasured intensity vs. measured time. This table can then be used as acorrection to measurements taken from real objects, so that objects ofdiffering intensity but the same range will appear to have the samerange as long as the environmental conditions of the sensor remainunchanged. When the environment does change, a new table of correctionsmust be acquired. This procedure adds significantly to the systemresolution and accuracy

The use of a partially coated single mode fiber to calibrate a scanningsingle-detector lidar system has been described (see, e.g., U.S. Pat.No. 6,246,468). However, when a narrow frequency laser is used, amultimode fiber provides sufficient accuracy, leading to a much moreeconomical and manufacturable component.

In the case that the laser pulse rise time is comparable to the desiredprecision, range walk compensation will not be necessary, and the pulseintensity measurement will not be needed. When the receiving detectorarray is operated in non-linear Geiger mode as in Marino above, a singlereceived photon can cause a state transition in the receiver. In thiscase, the measurement of received pulse intensity can only be determinedon a statistical basis. However, if the pulse is large enough to have ahigh likelihood of being detected, then it is most likely that thereceived photon appears in the rise time of the laser. Thus, if thelaser pulse rise time is comparable to the desired precision, no pulseintensity measurement will be needed to compensate for any apparentrange walk. So to achieve 5 mm resolution, a laser pulse with a risetime shorter than 35 psec will be adequate to ensure that no range walkcorrection will be required.

When the array is used to measure the inside of a sphere that iscentered at the camera, all the pixels should report the same range.Further, this should true for any size sphere. However, variations intiming offset and scale will cause the measurements to deviate from thisidealization. A table of offsets and corrections for each pixel can bedeveloped, and typically this can be accomplished with any known surfaceat more than one range. Typically, a flat surface would be measured attwo or more ranges, and the measured results would then be applied toall the pixels in subsequent measurements.

If, however, the correction table is created in the factory, thecorrections are unlikely to remain constant over time and temperature tomillimeter accuracy, principally because of variations in componentparameters with temperature or aging. The procedure would have to beapplied periodically. However, the procedure cannot be convenientlyapplied in the field, as suitable flat surfaces are unlikely to beconveniently available. Even if suitable fixtures were available, itwould be unknown when or how often they should be applied. Further, thesystem operator would be required to execute a special procedure, andhis future results would be dependent on how well the procedure wasfollowed.

The resonator array imposes the same pulse delay pattern across thedetector array every time since the geometry of the components will beunchanged. A single factory calibration of the apparent differencesacross the array can be supplemented with the apparent differences atthe moment the array uniformity is being field evaluated, and the sum ofthese corrections can be applied to every pixel when applied to realobjects.

While timing interpolators are designed to provide an accurate, linearmeasure of the elapsed time between asynchronous events and system clockpulses, real circuits can only provide an approximation. The differencecan become exceedingly important when attempting to make measurementswith picosecond precision, and also when the interpolation ratios arelarge.

The nonlinearity at each pixel can be determined quite accurately if thepulse arrival times are not coherent with the system clock. In thatcase, the likelihood of making a measurement resulting in one of thepotential interpolated values will be proportional to the likelihood ofthe associated pulse arriving in the associated time slot allocated tothat value. So if the time T between clock periods is divided into Mtime slots with end points t₀, . . . , t_(M), a large number of timemeasurements over all the pixels will result in a distribution {n_(k);k=1 . . . M} of time measurements with resulting interpolated values inthese time slots; that is, on each occasion we see an interpolated valuet with t_(i-1)<t<t_(i), we increment n_(i). If the interpolator wastruly linear, then this distribution would be uniform; to the extent itis not uniform, a linearization of future measurements can be expectedto delivery superior accuracy. If the total number of measurements is

${N = {\sum\limits_{k}n_{k}}},$then an approximate measure of the proportion of measurements landing inthe k^(th) time slot is n_(k)/N. There are a few similar and reasonableways to correct future measurements on the basis of these observations,but a sensible (and successful) approach is to assign each newinterpolated value the time associated with the center of the time slotduring which it occurs. Accordingly, a sensible set of approximatecorrection factors can be estimated as

$t_{k}^{c} = {\frac{T}{N}{\left( {{\sum\limits_{i < k}n_{i}} + \frac{n_{k}}{2}} \right).}}$

When future timing measurements are made, and an interpolation betweensystem clock values lies between t_(k-1) and t_(k), the value t_(k) ^(c)will be used in its place.

Slope compensation will be discussed next. When the surfaces beingmeasured are not normal to the laser radar, additional calculations mustbe made to enhance the system accuracy. For instance, if the outgoinglaser beam is 5 mm in diameter at the target object, but hits a surfacewhich is inclined at 60 degrees from the normal, the pulse return willbe distributed over an area which has almost a 9 mm extent in range.Therefore the return pulse could be as long as 58 psec, even if theoutgoing pulse is instantaneous. In general, the calculated range willbe somewhere within the observed return spot. If the desired range isthat of the center of the spot, as would normally be the case, thesurface normal must be known to adjust the range walk for the increasein pulse width—otherwise the range walk correction will be smaller thannecessary by approximately the amount the pulse has been elongated.

A two step process is applied to obtain enhanced range information oninclined surfaces While the ranges to inclined surfaces will beunderestimated, the normal to these surfaces will be well approximatedif adjacent samples are on the same region. Therefore, a goodapproximation of the surface normal can be obtained uncorrected data.Then, in a second step, the range to the center of the laser spot can bedetermined by increasing the first range estimate in accordance withthis normal estimate.

Oversampling will be discussed next. In some cases it may be possible toenhance the spatial resolution of a range image after the data has beenacquired, as well as the associated intensity image. This is true forboth a range image acquired by a lidar array as well as one which hasbeen acquired by a laser scanner that has been intentionallyover-sampled. The algorithm for range image enhancement is similar toones that have been used in digital photography.

Let o(x,y) represent the range distribution associated with an object,and let r(x,y) represent the range distribution associated with ablurred image of that object. We assume that the blur the image has beensubjected to is a linear, space-invariant transformation, describable bya known space-invariant point-spread function s(x,y).

Then the object and the image are related by:r(x,y)=∫∫o(ξ,η)s(x−ξ,y−η)dξdη

We seek to obtain an estimate ô(x,y) of o(x,y), based on the measuredrange image r(x,y) and the known point-spread function s(x,y).

Using the relationship between object and image in the frequency domain,F{r(x,y)}=F{s(x,y)

o(x,y)}=S(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y))O(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y))

an estimate of the spectrum of the original object can be obtained bysimply multiplying the image spectrum by a restoration filter H,Ô(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y))=H(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y))R(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y)),

where the restoration filter H, is given byH(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y))=S⁻¹(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y)).

An improvement of this estimate can be achieved by assuming the image isembedded in noise, and is represented by:r(x,y)=o(x,y)

s(x,y)+n(x,y)

Where n(x,y) is the noise associated with the detection process. If thepower spectral densities of the object and the noise are represented byΦ_(o)(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y)) and Φ_(n)(ƒ_(X),ƒ_(Y)), then the transfer function ofthe optimum restoration filter is given by:

${H\left( {f_{X},f_{Y}} \right)} = \frac{S^{*}\left( {f_{X},f_{Y}} \right)}{{{S\left( {f_{X},f_{Y}} \right)}}^{2} + \frac{\Phi_{n}\left( {f_{X},f_{Y}} \right)}{\Phi_{o}\left( {f_{X},f_{Y}} \right)}}$

The present invention provides a device for three dimensional imaging ofobjects using a single laser pulse. It overcomes the problems of priorsystems in providing millimeter accuracy and resolution. The devicecomprises a pulsed light source, means for projecting the light towardsthe object, optics for collecting the reflected light, sensors fordetecting the reflected light, conditioning for analog signals producedby the sensors, processors for recording intensity and timing data fromthe sensors, and a computer and software for converting the sensor datato a highly accurate three dimensional image. An array of optics andelectromechanical devices are operated in concert with an algorithm tocalibrate the system in situ to provide highly accurate measurements.

In the above discussion, the term “computer” and “processor” are definedto include any digital or analog data processing unit. Examples includeany personal computer, workstation, set top box, mainframe, server,supercomputer, laptop or personal digital assistant capable of embodyingthe inventions described herein.

Examples of articles comprising computer readable media are floppydisks, hard drives, CD-ROM or DVD media or any other read-write orread-only memory device.

Portions of the above description have been presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the ways used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, thatall of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriatephysical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to thesequantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from thefollowing discussions, terms such as “processing” or “computing” or“calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to theaction and processes of a computer system, or similar computing device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (e.g.,electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the artthat any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose maybe substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application isintended to cover any adaptations or variations of the presentinvention. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited onlyby the claims and the equivalents thereof.

1. A method of imaging an object, comprising: mounting an array ofdetectors in an image plane; connecting each detector in the array ofdetectors to a timing circuit having one or more interpolators, whereineach interpolator includes one or more interpolator circuits, whereineach interpolator circuit charges a capacitor at a different rate thanit discharges; transmitting an optical pulse toward an object so that aportion of the optical pulse is reflected from the object as a reflectedpulse, wherein transmitting the optical pulse includes recording a firstvalue, wherein the first value is representative of when the opticalpulse was transmitted toward the object; detecting arrival of thereflected pulse at one or more detectors within the array of detectors,wherein detecting arrival of the reflected pulse includes: determining areflected pulse characteristic representative of the reflected pulse'samplitude; and recording a second value, wherein the second value isrepresentative of when the reflected pulse arrived at the detector; andmeasuring range to the object as a function of the first and secondvalues and the reflected pulse characteristic.
 2. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein determining a reflected pulse characteristicincludes integrating the reflected pulse over a predetermined intervalof time.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining areflected pulse characteristic includes detecting peak amplitude.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein recording a second value includesmonitoring the detector to detect when the reflected pulse passesthrough a threshold, recording a detection time corresponding to whenthe reflected pulse passed through the threshold and correcting thedetection time as a function of the reflected pulse characteristic. 5.The method according to claim 1, wherein two or more interpolatorcircuits are cascaded and wherein recording a second value includesinitiating a first interpolator circuit on arrival of the reflectedpulse at the detector and initiating a second interpolator circuit afterthe first interpolator circuit reaches a predetermined voltage.
 6. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein transmitting an optical pulseincludes directing a portion of the optical pulse to a detector andwherein recording a first value includes detecting arrival of theportion of the optical pulse at the detector.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, wherein transmitting an optical pulse includes connecting aresonator/attenuator to the array of detectors and directing the opticalpulse into the resonator/attenuator such that the resonator/attenuatortransmits two or more optical pulses to the array of detectors.
 8. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein recording a second value includesinitiating one of the interpolator circuits on arrival of the reflectedpulse at the detector and capturing a circuit voltage representative ofcharge across the first capacitor on a subsequent clock edge.
 9. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein initiating one of the interpolatorcircuits includes discharging the interpolator circuit's capacitor at afirst rate until a subsequent transition of the master clock.
 10. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein initiating one of the interpolatorcircuits includes: discharging the interpolator circuit's capacitor at afirst rate until a subsequent transition of the master clock; andcapturing voltage across the interpolator circuit's capacitor.
 11. Asystem for rendering a three-dimensional image of an object, comprising:a laser, wherein the laser generates an optical pulse and projects theoptical pulse on an object so that it is reflected as a reflected pulse;a detector array, wherein the detector array includes a plurality ofdetectors, wherein the detectors are oriented to receive the reflectedpulse; a timing circuit connected to the detector array, wherein thetiming circuit determines when the reflected pulse reached a detector onthe detector array, wherein the timing circuit includes one or moreinterpolators, wherein each interpolator includes one or moreinterpolator circuits, wherein each interpolator circuit charges acapacitor at a different rate than it discharges the capacitor; and aprocessor connected to the timing circuit, wherein the processorcalculates transit time for the optical pulse as time between when theoptical pulse was projected on the object and when a pulse reflectedfrom the object reached detectors on the detector array in order todetermine range to the object.
 12. The system according to claim 11,wherein each interpolator circuit includes: a timing capacitor which canbe set to a predetermined initial state; means for charging saidcapacitor at a first predetermined rate when a pulse is detected; andmeans for discharging said capacitor at a second predetermined rateuntil said capacitor returns to its initial state.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the timing circuit includes means forstoring a value representative of a peak of the reflected pulse.
 14. Thesystem according to claim 11, wherein the timing circuit includes meansfor storing a value representative of integration of the reflectedpulse.
 15. The system according to claim 11, wherein the detector arrayfurther includes means for coupling a resonator/attenuator between thelaser and the detector array.
 16. A device for imaging one or more threedimensional objects, including: a pulsed light source; means fortransmitting light toward said objects; optics for collecting lightduring the time for light to transit from said pulsed light source,reflect from said objects, be collected and focused by said optics oneor more detectors, wherein the detectors are oriented for receiving thecollected light and converting the collected light into an electricalsignal; timing means, connected to the one or more detectors, fordetermining a transit time for a pulse to leave the pulsed light source,reflect off the objects and return to one or more of the plurality ofdeflectors, wherein the timing means includes one or more interpolators,wherein each interpolator includes a circuit which charges at adifferent rate than it discharges; and calibration means, connectedbetween the light transmitting means and the detectors, wherein thecalibration means includes a resonator.
 17. The device according toclaim 16, wherein the resonator includes a coupler connected to anoptical fiber.
 18. The device according to claim 16, wherein the lightsource is a laser.
 19. The device according to claim 18, wherein thedetectors are avalanche photodiodes operating in non-linear Geiger mode.20. The device according to claim 18, wherein pulse duration is lessthan 100 psec.